Better World Arts
Better World Arts has been operating for over two decades. Our role models were Oxfam, Fred Hollows (the Fred Hollows Foundation) and Anita Roddick (The Body Shop).
Initially, we worked...
Better World Arts
Better World Arts has been operating for over two decades. Our role models were Oxfam, Fred Hollows (the Fred Hollows Foundation) and Anita Roddick (The Body Shop).
Initially, we worked with traditional handicrafts. In 1996 we invited Aboriginal artists to join our projects and soon after we decided to focus on the Aboriginal art side of the projects and left the normal handicrafts to others like Oxfam.
We work with traditional artisans from remote regions in Kashmir, Peru, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Nepal (Tibetan refugees). More recently we have started working with China, making bone china and silk ties.
We work with Australian Aboriginal artists from remote communities across Australia, from Arnhem Land to Central and the Western Desert regions, from rural locations and from cities.
We work with IP belonging to artists and artisans. We protect this property with contracts and agreements and take other steps like blocking our website for some countries. Artists own the images used and it is up to them regarding how it can be used. Artisan groups own the IP for various handicrafts which are indigenous to various regions and cultural groups. We contract with the owners of these various handicraft styles, rather than buying them from other sources outside. We find the quality is better and we are respecting the IP of the cultural groups. Artists benefit from royalties paid to them on a monthly basis. Art centres benefit from a substantial profit share paid on their investments.
Artisans benefit by having culturally appropriate opportunities, they are able to supplement rural income by practising age-old traditions in their own homes located in remote beautiful clean villages. We have created sustainable lives for artisans and we have paid artists millions of dollars over the last decade alone.